U.S. Navy warships in the eastern Mediterranean Sea

Naval Gazing

The U.S. Navy this week unveiled a new maritime signal to be used in the Easter Mediterranean.

According to senior White House sources, the message to be conveyed by the signal will be: “stop f*cking with this tiny country”.

AP reports,

The U.S. Navy is sending three warships to the eastern Mediterranean Sea in a show of strength during a period of tensions with Syria and political uncertainty in Lebanon.

…

Another military officer, speaking on condition of anonymity because full details about the ship movements are not yet public, said a Navy destroyer, the USS Cole, was headed for patrol in the eastern Mediterranean and that the USS Nassau, an amphibious warship, would be joining it shortly. The officer said a third ship would go later, but he did not identify it.

…

National Security Council spokesman Gordon Johndroe said the deployment of the Cole is meant as “a show of support for regional stability.” He added that President Bush is concerned about the situation in Lebanon.

For those of you who might not recall, the USS Cole was the American guided-missile destroyer targetted by terrorists in Yemen back in 2000.

Perhaps it is fitting, then, that it is now being used to send a message to the biggest sponsors of terrorism* in the Levant – the regime in Damascus.